in the area of Serridge Green / South of the Swan Inn, Brierly, towards the Trafalgar Pit

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
Approx Map ref
362365, 214580

STRIP AND AT IT
The site of the former Strip-and-at-it colliery has few visible remains apart from some concrete and stonework. Part of the tunnel between Trafalgar and Strip-and-at-it survives and its Trafalgar entrance is well preserved. Notice that the historic postcard is headed 'Trafalgar Colliery', which took over the workings.

The Strip-and-at-it gale was worked by John Harris from 1832. Two pumping engines were in use by 1841, and production was 11,502 tons in 1856. It worked the Rocky and Churchway Seams of the Supra-Pennant Group (top part of the Upper Coal Measures) through a 381 ft (in 1841) shaft, and was notorious for the thinness (20 ins) of its seams. Coal raising ceased in 1861, and the gale was surrendered to the Crown in 1864. It was then acquired by Corneleus and Francis Brain, owners of the nearby Trafalgar Colliery, who used the shaft for pumping (a 44-inch Cornish engine was working in 1880) and as an emergency exit. There was a spur to the Severn and Wye Railway's Churchward Branch by 1842, and this was connected by a short tunnel to Trafalgar Colliery in 1860, although the latter colliery soon had direct rail access to both the Great Western Railway's Forest of Dean Branch and the Severn and Wye Railway. Strip-and-at-it closed, along with Trafalgar Colliery, in 1925.

TRAFALGAR
There are remains of retaining walls of the screens, the tip and the tramway tunnel to Strip-and-at-it Colliery, all much overgrown. A pair of shafts is marked by two large rocks. Nearby Trafalgar House (still a dwelling) was the home of Sir Francis Brain.

The Trafalgar gale was granted to Corneleus Brain in 1842, but work does not appear to have begun until about 1860. After 1867 coal from the adjacent Rose-in-hand gale was also worked. There were two shafts, worked by the same winding engine, through the Upper Coal Measures (Supra-Pennant Group) down to the Churchway High Delf Seam at a depth of 586 ft. A narrow-gauge tramway (Brain's Tramway) was soon built to the Great Western Railway's Forest of Dean Branch at Bilson, but after 1872 there was also a connection with the Severn and Wye Railway. The colliery was unique in Dean in being lit by gas, and electric pumps were installed underground in 1882, the first recorded use of electric power in a mine. Trafalgar was one of the larger pits, employing 800 men and boys in 1870, and producing 88794 tons of coal in 1880 and about 500 tons/day in 1906. However, the main dip roadway was unexpectedly flooded in 1919, and the colliery was bought by the managements of Lightmoor and Foxes Bridge Collieries to protect their own workings. It closed in 1925.

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=20257

Name: Alfred C Walthen
Mother's Maiden Surname: Gane
Date of Registration: Jul Aug Sep 1929
Registration district: Westbury S
Registration county: Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire
Volume Number: 6a
Page Number: 409

siblings ??
William J Walthen Apr May Jun 1918 Newport M Wales
Caleb E Walthen Jan Feb Mar 1920 Newport M Wales
Thomas Hh Walthen Jul Aug Sep 1922 Newport M Wales
Irene D Waltham Oct Nov Dec 1924 Westbury S Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire
Annie K Waltham Oct Nov Dec 1926 Westbury S. Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire
Donald A Waltham Oct Nov Dec 1932 Westbury S Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire
Emlyn S Waltham Jul Aug Sep 1934 Westbury S Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire
David B Waltham Jan Feb Mar 1938 F of Dean Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire
Gwyneth L Waltham Oct Nov Dec 1939 F of Dean Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire

parents -
Name: Caleb C Walthen
Spouse: Margaret Gane
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1917
Registration district: Newport Market
Registration county (inferred): Glamorgan, Gwent, Monmouthshire
Volume Number: 11a
Page Number: 397

??
Name: Caleb Charles Warrant
Year of Registration: 1890
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
District: Monmouth (1837-1939)
County: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire
Volume: 11a
Page: 18

Year 1929
Month Jun
Day 26
Surname WARREN
Forenames Thurza
Residence Trafalgar
Age at death 68
Officiating Minister H M Biddell Vicar of S. Stephens Cinderford
Event Burial
Cause of death
Memoranda
Notes
Register Reference P109 IN 1/14
Page No 171
Parish Chapel Drybrook

1901 Brierly
William Warian abt 1856 Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales Head East Dean, Gloucestershire
Thirza Warian abt 1862 Lane End; Coleford, Gloucestershire, England Wife East Dean, Gloucestershire
Annie Warian abt 1885 Lane End; Coleford, Monmouthshire, Wales Daughter East Dean, Gloucestershire
William Warian abt 1889 Brierly, Gloucestershire, England Son East Dean, Gloucestershire
Caleb Warian abt 1891 Lane End; West Dean, Gloucestershire, England Son East Dean, Gloucestershire
Brent Warian abt 1896 Brierly East Dean, Gloucestershire, England Son East Dean, Gloucestershire

1891
William Warrant abt 1859 Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales Head West Dean, Gloucestershire
Thursia Warrant abt 1862 East Dean, Gloucestershire, England Wife West Dean, Gloucestershire
Amelia Warrant abt 1886 Pontnewydd, Monmouthshire, Wales Daughter West Dean, Gloucestershire
William J Warrant abt 1888 East Dean, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean, Gloucestershire
Kalep C Warrant abt 1890 West Dean, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean, Gloucestershire

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>